Question: Who Is Our SECOND Best Player? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Question: Who Is Our SECOND Best Player?

Second best player seems to vary by game. In terms of overall ability, it's probably Christyn. But there have been multiple games when Liv looked like the second best and some others when Evina looked like the second best. There are moments when Aubrey or Aaliyah looked like the second best. There is no question who is the best player. I asked myself in the summer if Paige could be the best player on the team on Day 1. I wasn't sure, but thought it was a distinct possibility. Now I think she's the best player in the country.
 
Each game it's a different player, which has its positives and negatives. There's not a go to person after Paige. However, you have many players contributing to the success of the team.
 
Jingo said:
I would give most of CW's minutes to Aaliyah and start Aaliyah over CW. With ONO & AE in the game together, running the high-low, we should be able to get a lot more scoring from our inside game. Giving more minutes to Aubrey and Mir should also provide more inside scoring, a big improvement - in terms of FG% - over CW's ill-advised long-range bombs!
Finally, I would give as many of CW's minutes as possible to Saylor as our next shooting guard. Saylor has greater upside than CW in terms of 3-point shooting [quick release, greater range], rebounding and [supposed] defense, eh?
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So your plan for replacing the second leading scorer is to replace her with a kid that has been on campus for less than a month and is shooting 14%? Seems logical.
 
NormanDale said:
So your plan for replacing the second leading scorer is to replace her with a kid that has been on campus for less than a month and is shooting 14%? Seems logical.
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Well at least Saylor hits iron, CW hits mostly air, eh?
 
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j66kicker said:
Hope she reads this and goes off for 40 tonight
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I hope she [CW] doesn't get the minutes to do that .. I hope somebody who is reliable and consistent gets those minutes AND shots, eh?
Actually, I'd like to see Liv drop 30+ vs St Johns.. or else AE or else Saylor et al ...
 
I do not think that there is one single person who is the second best player on this team. I think that the second best player is the desire to win and compete to win by a group of young people who have worked to taste the victory of championship and excellence. I would point to the coaching staff especially Jamelle who provide the sense of urgency, toughness, determination, and desire to thrust themselves into the fray and compete to win. They are now in the situation where if they lose, they go home. They want to go home by winning it all.
 
veryolddog said:
I do not think that there is one single person who is the second best player on this team. I think that the second best player is the desire to win and compete to win by a group of young people who have worked to taste the victory of championship and excellence. I would point to the coaching staff especially Jamelle who provide the sense of urgency, toughness, determination, and desire to thrust themselves into the fray and compete to win. They are now in the situation where if they lose, they go home. They want to go home by winning it all.
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To tell you the truth, I’m not even a fan of dubbing Paige as our best player though it is an easy thing to do. Last night Christyn was our best player on both ends of the floor. Even with that Evina was phenomenal and Edwards was very very good. It’s a normal tendency to rank things, but with this team in particular, we’ve ended up with a very talented group anyone of whom is capable of dominating on any given night.
 
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Kinda glad this thread got bumped. I wonder if crow is on anyone's menu... Two takeaways: 1) trust the process - what you see in mid-Feb is not what you get in late March. and 2) when you have 7 or 8 players in the rotation and they are all pulling their respective oars, 2nd best is a silly question... it's whoever the other guys can't match up with on any given night.
 
CL82 said:
To tell you the truth, I’m not even a fan of doubling Paige as our best player though it is an easy thing to do. Last night Christyn was our best player on both ends of the floor. Even with that Evina was phenomenal and Edwards was very very good. It’s a normal tendency to rank things, but with this team in particular, we’ve ended up with a very talented group anyone of whom is capable of dominating on any given night.
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nice cl82... you hit post as I was typing but I think we said just about the same thing....
 
CL82 said:
To tell you the truth, I’m not even a fan of doubling Paige as our best player though it is an easy thing to do. Last night Christyn was our best player on both ends of the floor. Even with that Evina was phenomenal and Edwards was very very good. It’s a normal tendency to rank things, but with this team in particular, we’ve ended up with a very talented group anyone of whom is capable of dominating on any given night.
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I could not agree more, as great as UConn’s individual talent is, the sum is greater than the parts right now, they are playing that in sync as a collective. As great as the guards played against Iowa, and the game Edwards had, I really admire the change in Ono’s focus the last two games, she needs to play BIG and she has, focusing big time on rebounding.
 
veryolddog said:
I do not think that there is one single person who is the second best player on this team. I think that the second best player is the desire to win and compete to win by a group of young people who have worked to taste the victory of championship and excellence. I would point to the coaching staff especially Jamelle who provide the sense of urgency, toughness, determination, and desire to thrust themselves into the fray and compete to win. They are now in the situation where if they lose, they go home. They want to go home by winning it all.
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You, IMO are correct and I also would add that Paige may be the best overall, but as she would tell you UCONN's wins are a 'team effort'! Each one seem to have their time to 'shine', but it's always a team effort. It's not all about points and shooting, but the effort that they all put in to make it happen, whether starting or coming off the bench. Evina said it best in the last Hartford Courant article. She said: "“I think what’s cool about playing here is that a lot of different teams can say ‘You can play team basketball’ but we really play team basketball. “It’s definitely a UConn type of culture, team basketball, and it’s been like that for decades now.” We may not win it all this year, but NO ONE.............NO TEAM is or has been like UCONN since Geno & CD stepped foot on Storrs campus. :)
 
Magy Cannon said:
CW is the 2nd best player. Paige is the best. AE is gaining!
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Second best player is AE. We can't win without her having big performances against some teams down the road with more size, athleticism and skill.
 
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On any given night (or day), even Paige isn't UConn's best player. Everyone contributes, only thing that'll take down UConn is if multiple starters have bad outings. Don't see that happening. I think UConn is on a mission with hungry players, and they have depth in their reserves to also contribute.
 
It could be argued—easily—that right now CW is our best player. And that is not taking anything away from Paige. Even Geno has said the road to the NC is paved by CW. The truth is that this is increasingly becoming a complete team, not one dominated by Paige. AE is obviously becoming the future, if not the immediate present, and will take minutes away from AG whose weaknesses have already limited her minutes. Nika is a force of nature and Anna is steadily returning to her end of last season form, the player who can be plugged in anywhere. AE makes ONO better and Evina is clutch. So TEAM TEAM TEAM!
 
The focus on Paige has opened things up for CW & EW. Teams are paying a pricing for trapping or quickly doubling Paige as she enters the paint. Its working to plan for Geno.

AE has also gives the team much more options on defense. UConn is holding their own on the boards against the big, physical teams - something they couldnt do last year. No more easy layups.

I'd say CW/AE are pretty much neck-and-neck as the 2nd best players right now!
 
Second best? What day is it? Who are we playing? Heck, against Iowa, Chrystin was our best player, with Aaliyah not far behind. This is a TEAM, built to take advantage of whatever the opponent gives us.
 
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At one point this season the answer to the question may have been a resounding no one is. The pendulum has swung wide to the other side where now a reasonable case can be made for five players. I can't get away from an early season discussion Geno had where he talked about how "good basketball" is supposed to look and that it may never be that way in this type of season. The gist was to just win games any way you can. Well it took some time, but this team looks good running everything they run on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court.

Im starting to go off on a tangent - back to the subject - CW edges out ONO who edges out EW who edges out AE who edges out NM. The total difference between 2 and 6 however is less than 5 percentage points.
 
Mdoggie said:
So this is where we are? Picking “second best players in a team sport” We must be bored.
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Sports is all about competing. We aren't playing a game today and it's raining so we can't all meet a the local park to play "horse," so this is today's contest. It's certainly fair game. It's not like we can compare out players to any other teams players, that's no competition.
 
for all those crotchety old folks complaining about the ridiculousness of "second best" and proclaiming "on any given day" etc -- cool down! Of course, on any given day, any of 5 players can have the best game, or the second best game. Stewie was the best player on the 2016 team, but that did not mean she was the best in every single game. It's talent and production over the long run that decides. And yes, I love Paige and AE and CW and EW and Ono and Nika and Anna and Aubrey and everyone else associated with UConn WBB. I love how Christyn has stepped up her game, especially on defense. And I love Olivia becoming more focused on defense and rebounding and avoiding fouls and her passing skills. And I love the emergence of NIka and AE, and the overall steadiness and well-roundedness of Evina's game.
But that doesn't mean players can't be ranked, even if some of the rankings might be ties.
And yes, that holds even in a "team game." So cool your jets! LOL
 
When you ask a question with no real answer all you are doing is soliciting peoples response to validate their own opinion. So again , what's the point.
 
If PB makes everyone better who has benefited most from PB? If you understand how PB makes you a better player and apply it well then maybe its that player. It’s AE. And she can dominate.
 
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